THE BLACK PHONE (2022) Ending Explained

[Music] what's up everybody and welcome to found flicks on this singing explain we're looking at the black phone where a young man is kidnapped by a sadistic mass killer when a strange phone on the wall starts to ring he discovers he can hear the voices of the murderer's victims who want nothing more than to put an end to the killer for good i was super hyped for this one as it marks scott derrickson's return to his horror roots after dipping his toe into blockbusters with doctor strange but unfortunately i found the black phone to be a bit underwhelming and not really what i expected or even wanted from the movie perhaps maybe just over hyped it happens my biggest complaint is that i really struggle to consider this a horror movie it's just not scary it doesn't even really try to be compared to the constant dread and terror of something like sinister i was majorly let down in that regard it also falls victim to something i'm noticing more and more in mainstream movies where it just feels incredibly simple like the story and everything is pared down to an absolute minimum even when it comes to the grabber character hawk does a great job and his mask is cool but we literally get no insight into his history or really anything about him despite the fact that ali really does for the majority of the movie is chat yep our big scary villain doesn't really do much at all and this drags things down in a palpable way i assume they must be working under the less is more mantra but here it makes things feel underdeveloped rather than adding to the mystery of the character as a result i can see why people would be confused with this one as a lot of times it feels more like they're hinting at story instead of really developing anything in a sense and it leaves us with many dots to connect on our own it almost feels like you're grabbing at straws to put any pieces together so it's not perfect by any means however there are enough little hints and connections sprinkled in throughout that i do think helps us to understand a bit more about the grabber and what he stands for what the black phone represents and what the main purpose of the story regarding finn is all about so let's check out the black phone breaking down the story including delving into the mysterious grabber killer and explaining the ending our story unfolds back in 1978 in what appears to be the idyllic suburb of north denver a group of boys are playing baseball and the meek finney takes them out one girl donna eisem appearing impressed amongst the onlookers he winds up again and the kid bruce hits it hard right over the fence home run finney's team is disappointed everyone now chanting bruce's name as he proudly rounds the bases the teams do their ceremonial after game handshakes and bruce stops finney complimenting his rocket arm and smirks that he almost had him bruce rides through the town street saying hi to some girls along the way moments later the childhood innocence is shattered by the appearance of a black van rounding the corner we learn the town has a darkness bubbling under the surface in the form of a serial killer who has a stranglehold on the community snatching boys from the streets to never be seen again as for finney's home life it's most likely due to his dad's short fuse and abusive behavior that has caused him to become introverted as the two sit in silence finn's slurping is enough to draw his father's ire spitting could he slurp any louder he weakly apologizes and his sister gwen makes another cardinal sonic mistake clanging the door on the bread box that immediately winces and annoys and does his best to contain his composure geez this guy is really on the edge huh unlike her older brother gwen isn't quite as terrified of her dad making fun of how serious he is behind his back the siblings walk to school and gwen rambles about how she's going to grow up and marry a celebrity they're stopped by a missing poster for bruce and he's apparently been missing for quite some time he wonders if they'll ever actually find him and gwyn says well not like they want to they come to a schoolyard brawl between two kids and one robin beats the absolute hell out of his opponent the crowd screams for more blood vinny drags gwen away and she brings up that the victim was moose who used to bully him the prior year she condones moose for even trying to fight robin he's the strongest kid in the school after pinball vance also got taken by the grabber finney shudders at the mention of the name as he doesn't even like thinking about someone like that being out there in their little town naturally there's rumors that have spread regarding the killer saying that he can hear you at all times and that's how he grabs kids she presses him to say that he doesn't believe the outlandish story but he refuses to do so so she calls him a chicken seeing that same ominous van rumbling behind them gwen does seem to have her brother pretty well pegged as in class he longingly eyes donna but just about to lock eyes he shyly shirks away as soon as the bell rings finn hightails it down the halls and we see why as a gang of bullies are soon chasing after him he ducks into a nearby bathroom and holes up in a stall to hide it doesn't even remotely work as maddie and his posse enter commanding him to come out he shuffles out as instructed and they make fun of him for being in the wrong bathroom this is the boy's room not for well you know a derogatory term that was much more commonly used in the 70s before they get the chance to beat him up robin enters and breaks attention maddie is about to leave and he stops them first warning if you mess with finn i mess with you his point made he dismisses them waving them away finn profusely thanks him but robin lays out the kid's main big dilemma one day he is gonna have to stand up for himself finn groans that he knows and is curious why he even fought moose in the first place well no real reason outside of some trash talking that got out of hand robin tells finn that he's gotta see texas chainsaw massacre which he proclaims to be the best movie ever but finn's dad won't let him watch anything like that well what about enter the dragon that's pretty good too right robin agrees and finn hopes that one day he can also see a bruce lee movie for himself maybe on tv he sighs there is a fair trade between the boys as robin helps protect him from police finn helps to tutor robin to get his grades up saying that he explains things better than the teachers later gwen is called out of class by some detectives with questions regarding bruce gwynn made some comments to his sister and she admits to having had a weird dream about him she saw him being taken by a man with black balloons in a van but that's all that she remembers surprisingly they also found black balloons at the site of another boy griffin's abduction but this was never revealed to the public so how does she know about it there's either a leak in the department or i'm the grabber she scoffs cutting them off she's frustrated and calls them both dumb fart knockers well she's definitely more confident than her brother that is for sure the detectives still think there's more to her story and she solemnly tells them that sometimes my dreams are right well there you go sounds like gwen has some kind of psychic powers here at the very least regarding her dreams didn't even know we were doing a supernatural thing but there you go the siblings walk home together passing by maddie and his buddies giving him the stink guy she's off to stay at a friend's house so it's up to him to look after dad dad won't be too difficult to attend with as he has already passed out in a liquor induced slumber in his armchair so he grabs some ice cream and plops down in front of the tv to watch some forbidden flicks in this case william castle's classic the tingler this makes it seem that dad has forced finn to be very sheltered as he keeps worriedly checking to see if he's awake not to worry he's in a deep drunken slumber so he can at least check out a horror flick for once in his life although his real life is more frightening than any horror movie he's awoken to their dad yelling and using a belt to beat his daughter wanting to know why it is that the police came to his work she claims that she doesn't know anything and threatens if he hits her again she'll drop his precious bottle of vodka ooh pretty serious he counters it if she drops it he'll whoop her twice as hard she pushes his buttons regardless and lets it shatter to the ground he curses her for her actions and shouts that she's not her mother you don't see her hear things that aren't there because they're not there and her dreams are just dreams asking solemnly if she understands she screeches yes and makes her repeat it several times until he's satisfied wow okay so another dad sucked but this is a whole other level finn looks undisturbed and dad offers it the same goes for him growling for him to get out of here as he sucks down a screwdriver he joins assist at the tv still sniffling and she leans her head on his shoulder elsewhere the grabber targets his next victim seeing robin shrutting down the street he enters a back alley along with the van there waiting a man in a long cape and red shirt emerges getting our first glimpse of the killer pretty flamboyant look there trying to hide or make as much of an appearance as possible soon the neighborhood phone lines are a buzz at the news of the next missing kid including it traveling to finn's house his dad asked if he knew a kid named robin and he says that he is a friend from school but dad doesn't elaborate any further and actually appears a little emotional just walking off we fly over the scene now packed with police cars people all join together to search for the new missing child gwen tries to comfort her brother but stumbles aren't her words saying she knows he was your friend he corrects that he is to which she apologizes there is a way that she could really help requesting her sister to employ her dream thing she sighs that it doesn't work that way and she has tried several times herself well try again he pleads she pulls out some religious iconography and takes a cross in her hand and starts to pray to jesus she asks his help with her brother's friend even though she knows he's technically not supposed to intervene in things but even if he just gives her a dream or two something that could help them find robin she promises him her eternal devotion yeah tricking god that usually works in the crack of the door her dad appears grumbling no playing after lights out he tells her to go to sleep and that he loves her to which she replies appearing frightened yeesh pretty dark around here and we can see why the siblings are living in a constant state of fear you never know what their dad is gonna do even now telling her that he loves her it's like oh pretty messed up dude that's not love i don't thank you just for beating me with a belt earlier with robin missing matty and his pals immediately returned to bullying finn luckily his little sis saves the day making use of a large rock to disperse the group it's ultimately for naught as she gets elbowed and the others return to pummeling finn you gotta stand up for yourself boy that's the point of the movie class presents him with another opportunity to awkwardly interact with donna as they team up for the always dreaded frog to section day they probably don't do that anymore i guess word has already spread through the school about the brawl calling maddie's gang a bunch of a-holes but his sister seems cool at least yeah saved by my little sister that's not embarrassing oh [ __ ] gwen can't help but poke fun at her brother in his little crush in these separate ways once more as she's back to susie's for the night finn is soon walking the streets completely alone and approaches the abercadabra van the grabber stumbles out and drops his groceries comically cackling well isn't that just peachy keen he naively offers to help and retrieves his hat the grabber explaining that he's a part-time magician wanna see a trick he asks finn then notices black balloons through the window he opens the door and pulls out a bouquet in the balloon related confusion the grabber gets finn in the face with bug spray and shoves him in the back of the van setting the bouquet free into the sky finn does keep possession of his pointy rocket toy and gets the killer in the arm later still incapacitated from the tray the boy is carried into a prison-like room grabby is annoyed for him attacking him grunting that he should snap his neck just for that finn later regains consciousness to the grabber now in his signature horn mask he waves his hand and finn is still blinded from the chemicals grabs calms him down that he's not going to hurt him anymore the whole neck snapping thing he was just upset he did do quite a number on his arm after all he chuckles he gets closer and plays with the boy's hair reassuring him nothing bad is going to happen yeah i don't trust you for some reason probably because of all the other kids you killed yeah that might might be it he even offers to grab him a soda and they're interrupted by the phone ringing he looks taken aback thinking that it's coming from the strange black phone down in the basement but no worries it's coming from upstairs he promises that he'll be right back to explain everything and closes a heavy door sliding a lock into place he scopes out his new digs honing in on the ominous black phone there hanging on the wall he picks it up but there's no dial tone and we see why the line is cut but what in the heck is that doing down here in the first place is the real question gwen gets a call from her dad and she immediately knows something isn't right dropping the phone and rushing out the door cops show up to finn's family's house and gwen is looking shell-shocked she returns to a room to tearfully pray and there's another phone call finn strangely thinks he hears it too but the ringing doesn't continue still hopeful he picks up the receiver and the grabber grumbles that it doesn't work it hasn't since he was a kid interesting he knows the boy is scared and says it'll take him home soon but he's having unforeseen complications with something or someone upstairs finn please to let him go before they get here and he won't tell anyone otherwise he will scream his head off that won't do much good as he's informed the door is completely soundproof and he did it himself he then confronts him about his history you're the one that killed all those boys and rattles off their names also interestingly the grabber argues that it wasn't actually him but someone else that did the murders finn growls that if he tries to touch him he'll scratch his face up and the visitor will ask why this face the grabber gestures de demurely to his devil mask and tells him again to hang up the phone he recalls the one time that he was down here and he heard it ringing shuttering it was the creepiest thing ever he was standing right by it and believes that somehow static electricity is responsible as though the energy in the air is causing it to malfunction he did instinctively answer the call but no one was on the other end he leaves and despite already knowing it won't do any good finn screams his lungs out pleading for help but even from right outside you cannot hear a peep well that ain't gonna work although the tiny window does provide some fresh hope and finn tries to leap up to reach it but can't quite make it he then considers that if it could have been broken someone prior especially robin would have been able to do it by now he now starts to get the gravity that he might not be getting out of this situation and then the black phone starts to really ring finn is hesitant at first i mean it's not plugged in but he decides to answer anyway yet there is only light static sounds on the other end he gets some shut eye but his vision is still messed up seeing the phone kind of wavering around he tells it to stop and the grabber asks stop what finn complains to him that he needs food but once more the killer is having complications thanks to his upstairs visitor he's annoyed why even come down here if he doesn't have food and the grabber eerily tells him that he just wanted to look at him and gets upset repeating himself and leaves in a hurry sweet childhood innocence kind of thing the phone rings again and at first there's only static until a boy's voice calls out his name to his confusion afraid he immediately hangs up but it starts to chime once more he takes it off the hook but the ringing becomes even more incessant and overbearing so he's forced to answer and ask the boy's name he tells him that he doesn't remember that's the first thing you lose when finn asks but the boy tells him you know when yeah when you die obviously as for how he knows finn's name he tells him that his arm is mint and he realizes that it's bruce that he's speaking with he asks if he heard the phone too and he says it did ring but he did not hear it assuming he didn't have this psychic thing like the siblings the grammar he says hears it too but he doesn't want to believe it also important he then provides him with a potential means of escape while he was in prison bruce started to dig a tunnel through the floor but he did not have enough time to finish finn asked if he thinks he'll have enough time and the call goes dead through hazy memories we flash through bruce's childhood and then to him being taken by the grabber it's the same setup as with finn using the balloons as a distraction for the spray pain bottle then finn is seen at the front door of a house but he can't get out banging at the walls for help gwen shoots awake and she's had a psychic dream and also got some fresh clues about what's going on thanks jesus finn follows bruce's words and does discover loose tiles just as described he continues the work dumping out more dirt down the toilet well that's not gonna last for too long after some time he covers up the hole and gets in bed time starts to blend into a confusing mess as he later stares intently at the phone he's snap back to reality when the door clings open the grabber has some breakfast for him which finn accuses him of putting poison in he chuckles the only thing he put in it is salt and pepper and besides he's already got him down here what would be the need for drugging him the killer leaves and to finn's shock has left the door unlocked he stopped and is tracked by another call and a boy warns him to not go upstairs it's a trap it's not bruce this time but a different kid who does remember that he delivered newspapers the boy's spirit then appears in the room with him and finn identifies him as another previous victim billy he stresses the importance of not going upstairs he's waiting for you on the other side with a belt he didn't say that you can leave so if you try to he will punish you you'll beg him to stop we all did but he won't stop and the call cuts off he decides to risk it anyway and slowly creaks his way up the stairs at the top is just as billy said the grabber is there waiting for him holding a belt and breathing heavily at the side he wisely elects to return to his cell and chokes down the food he's awoken by ringing and billy is back but he is upset telling him don't call him that that is not who he is anymore and his emotion translates into a nearby soda bottle that starts to wobble ghost energy he prefers to be called paperboy he says and he had his own separate plan of escape in the works he had carefully removed a long cable from the wall and the bottle spins to point up to the window maybe he can use the cable to get out or that was his intention at least gwen dreams this time of billy seeing him getting his papers together for his route along with his furry companion he throws out the papers with the pup by a side and then see his wheels overturned and the van peels away the grabber stands out in a yard holding balloons and cackles she's starting to see more and more of the previous victim's stories as well as a peek of the grabber himself she's somehow able to access her memories which appear to be tied to their spirits reaching out finn discovers the cable and tugs it loose it proves difficult to hook around the bars and so he drags a rug over to feed the cable up he ties a knot to act as a foothold and manages to pull himself up the rest of the way he yanks at the frame and comes loose sending him plummeting to the ground but well at least he got the thing off at home gwen attempts to gently broach the subject of her dreams with her dad he does at least promise to not get mad offering her a toast it's her dream she begins but she can't muster the words dad then interjects about her mother she was a special smart soul just like gwen but she was also touched she saw and heard things and became so convinced that her dreams must mean something they eventually told her to do things terrible things and as a result she took her own life but again he says what she was seeing was not real he insists this thread is of some importance to understanding things that manner of which we interpret things that we don't understand it's possible your mom was seeing things in her dreams just like when is now but most people would consider such things to be the product of a troubled mind we know at least with gwen that is indeed some kind of psychic connection and it's possible that this was inherited from their mother either way her death has had a lasting and devastating impact on the family they don't ever discuss emotions of any kind in fact they actually seem discouraged and so as a result that trauma never really heals that breaks down that he does not want that future for her that's his biggest worry but she asks what if it could help them find finn this is enough for him to relent to drive around and search the streets meanwhile the cops were also out canvassing the neighborhood and meet the quirky guy max he waves him inside and breathlessly explains that he's been working on the case on his own and has looked into every detail regarding the kidnappings he's pinpointed based on where they were taken that his house must be somewhere in this specific neighborhood they ask what his story is and he's here crashing on his bro's couch while he's in between jobs which gives him plenty of time for research he starts thinking for some reason that they're all working the case together now and they do at least allow him to keep fiddling away and let him know if they find anything on the way out they suggest for him to tidy up seeing some remnants of cocaine left out on the table oh that explains his frantic behavior he chimes himself and cleans up the mess by sniffing the rest up nice and tidy we then descend through the floor and into the basement where finn is being held and now we get that it's the grabber's druggie brother that is mucking up his plans if it weren't for max finn would probably have been tended with already he busies himself dragging out more dirt sometime later the grabber returns and finn feins being asleep he stops and wheezes in a sing-song voice i know you're not sleeping the ruse is up he wants to know his captive's name which he normally doesn't bother with he usually just finds out in the paper afterwards they print out a nice big photo with all the details that he would want and what the boys had lied to him about he's curious why things are different this time and the grabber shrugs that it's complicated nothing is going right this time finn suggests in that case you could just let him go blindfold him and drop him off somewhere on the street undeterred he again asks his name and finn fibs that it's taylor mullen grabber is disappointed and drops the food throwing the paper at him his face is plastered right on the front page and the killer sees that he was really starting to like you fanny i was almost going to let you go he says and then locks him back up yeah i don't know i don't know if that's true necessarily later that night the grabber is back to chilling in his chair tapping his toe in anticipation he actually falls asleep for a brief moment and catches himself but it's right back to sleepy time while in bed finn hears a strange dripping sound and uses his rocket flashlight to scan around the dark room he is shocked to see a kid hanging in the air his blood dripping to the ground the scariest moment in the entire movie probably the only actual scare in the entire thing okay whatever he points to the phone and finn grabs it the boy tells him that they don't have much time the grabber hasn't been sleeping he continues this might be it he's going to figure it out ben doesn't understand who he's talking about and the boy says his brother upstairs and starts to giggle he figures out that it's griffin but as usual the boy's memory is a little hazy he doesn't understand why he hasn't been killed yet and it's because he hasn't played the game based on the name naughty boy i'm assuming it's not the most fun game if he can't beat you in the game he can't move on to the next part and that part is his favorite finn naively asks what's the next part and griffin giggles and then gets stern that he doesn't have much time yeah death is clearly the next step geez dude now is his chance as the grabber is asleep but it's not going to be so easy there's a combination lock on the front door that was repurposed from griffin's bike he wrote the code on the wall and finn finds it but there could be various combos using the numbers unfortunately griffin doesn't remember he's gonna have to try them all and be real careful and quiet about it he makes it upstairs and comes right to the grabber snoring he slowly tiptoes by and right next to him he remains out he heads right for the front door and tries a few different combos before getting it correct yet the click of it opening causes his dog to bark and quickly rouses the killer finn sprints outside down the sidewalk screeching for help the grabber chases after in his van and clips him rustling him to the ground a few house lights click on nearby and the grabber jams a knife in his throat if he says a word he'll kill him right here they wait a few moments and the lights all go off meaning the coast is clear he tells him nighty night naughty boy and punches his lights out he throws him back into the cell which his brother overhears but he's told it's nothing go back to bed lousy deadbeat brother can't even kill any kids when this joke is around now word from our sponsor for today's video audible audible is your online home for audiobooks podcasts and audio series we're inviting you to listen now to the new original supernatural audio thriller the prophecy available on audible head to audible.com prophecy to check it out the entire show is ready for you to binge right now it boasts an epic all-star cast featuring kerry washington daniel day kim david oyelowo asa butterfield and lawrence fishburne in the series against the backdrop of worldwide unexplainable natural disasters dr virginia edwards emmy award winner carrie washington seeks out agent scott thomas emmy award winner lawrence fishburn at a secretive government headquarters virginia claims these events are signs and unless thomas helps her she believes things will only get worse can she convince the top secret agent from a secret government program to help before it's too late follow the signs and binge the whole series now to uncover the truth listen on audible by going to audible.com prophecy now gwen wakes up but this time had no dream at all and launches into a tirade of frustration with god she knows he let finn get taken and believes that dreams are coming from him so he is involved in a way then she mulls it over and considers maybe he isn't real well finn comes to later muttering at his fate the phone rings he grabs it appearing agitated and barks you gonna say something and he wants to know who it is this boy is much more aggressive than the others and turns the question on him does he know who he is he's living a horrifying nightmare and his pathetic life will soon come to an end at the vitriol he concludes that as the aforementioned pinball vance and toughest kid in school today's the day vance tells him and kicks the phone to in the call gwen then in her dream sees vance's whole deal he's rocking it out on a pinball machine as per his namesake sporting some glorious hair his pal notices that he's about to beat the high score but his victory is fouled when the ball gets stuck a kid gets shoved into the machine and the ball goes right down the drain ruining his game he lets him know that he's less than pleased about it proceeding to beat the crap out of the kid and grabs his arm carving 7741 into it with a blade we also see that finn was there watching the whole madness unfold vance casually returns to his game but soon after is arrested gwen is outside too seeing him getting stuffed into the back seat somehow she's able to tag along for the ride and looks around and bewilderment at her surroundings the radio crackles to life in its finn's voice from his earlier conversation with vance we're seeing through the veil a little bit here the radio and the afterlife versus the phone in the real world they stopped the car right here this is it vance declares she walks outside and sees the address is 7741 the same he carved on the boy's arm we hear the grabber cackling and vance continues if i knew what was coming i would be terrified and he kicks the gate today's the day he says syncing us up with the point of him kicking the phone in spirit form gwen wakes up from her dream in the tub and tells her dad to hurry up as the voices continue to echo in her mind vance is still with finn asking if he tries stacking the carpets to get up to the window finn glemly says he hasn't tried anything and is told that when the grabber saw advanced did it was all over him he presses him about what he did and he spills that there's an outlet by the toilet on the other side of that is a storage room if he can make a hole in the spot where vance advises he can remove a freezer's back panel and then have access to the storage room finn thanks him for helping advance gets agitated spitting this is not about him and is yanked away into the dark oblivion before he can say more his screams continue and the walls rattle bottles flying around the room and shattering before the energy dissipates away he utilizes the toilet lid to bash at the wall and goes at it for quite some time until he hits metal it looks like the panel vans described and he searches for something to loosen the bolts it's back to his toilet savior finding a washer which allows him to make quick work of the panel he reaches into the icy cold and pulls out a t-bone yep he's inside the freezer he crawls in and starts shouldering the door seeing that it's latched out from outside looking as though he cannot go any further forward he climbs back out and at the hopeless turn of events begins to sob right on cue the black phone beckons for him and there's one more victim we haven't heard from his buddy robin he tells him to not cry it's time to get strong finn moans that he's given up as he's tried everything but robin disagrees and reminds him what he told him today is the day to stand up for yourself finn still doesn't think he's a fighter like his bud but robin encourages even if he can't throw a punch he knew how to take one he always got back up every time and thusly is a fighter in his own right he still thinks that he isn't strong enough and he tells him that he has to be if not for him then for me he doesn't want his death to be for nothing and since he can't kill the grabber it's up to finn he has a good suggestion for a weapon take the phone and stuff it with dirt to give it some heft then you gotta practice and the duo go through the moves repeatedly to get him ready for his final showdown turning into a karate kid training montage out of nowhere finn hopes that he can talk to him again but unfortunately this will be his last call from here on out he's on his own finn cries that he misses him then get out for me robin says use what i gave you and they both say goodbye for good meanwhile gwen is furiously pedaling in the streets apologizing for doubting jesus now once more asking for his help and out of nowhere the entire group of boys appear in the road they let her right where she needs to go seeing it's the same house and even address from her dream she pedals back home and alerts the detectives of what she found inside max does some more lines and looks over his precious crime board you're literally living in the killer's house it's your brother you drugged out dumbo jeez and look a fresh understanding comes across max's face as he seems to finally be putting the pieces together like i wonder what my bros multi-piece devil mask and the black balloons and the black band like what's that all about you know god he's looking at it he's like is it my house oh [ __ ] the police and the grabber with fresh supplies are both heading their way simultaneously max saunters towards the basement door and reaches out for the handle but sighs stopping himself like there's no way right my bro ain't no killer alright finn paces anxiously hearing the creaks above he stares to the phone and knows that it's time the door slowly opens and it's max who is like no [ __ ] way when he sees finn down there finn instantly tells him to call his family or someone anyone while max appears to have some brain damage not really appreciating the severity of the situation he knew that his brother was hiding something but not this and tells the kid to keep calm he had to go into work so there's nothing to worry about he starts to ask if he wants to hear about how he figured things out and the grabber steps behind him and buries an axe in his head well thanks for all the help max appreciate you gwen waits outside the house as the police arrive and she's sure it's the same place from her dream down to every detail the grabber scolds finn for making him kill his brother he was an idiot but he was my idiot he apologizes as now he has no choice but to let finn join the other boys the police knock at the door demanding for him to open up and the grabber tells his latest potential kill that he's going to make things extra special for him he wants him to hurt he calls for his pooch samson who comes down to his side on command and blocks the door the cops pry open the front door and bust their way inside searching the place they don't find anyone around and assume that it must be the wrong house the grabber goes out finn with the axe and finn lures him right into his trap he draws the cable tight and his adversary trips landing right into the covered up hole snapping his ankle painfully the grabber growls fairly and finn gives him a few good whacks with the weighted phone he goes for his mask and removes it which causes the killer to scream and tear and claw at his face the facade has been dropped finn wraps the cable around his neck and strangles him while still getting it with the phone it starts to ring and he doesn't let go and finn brings the receiver to the grabber's ear telling him it's for you he draws the core tighter and snaps the grabber's neck him slumping down lifelessly into the hole the cops are just about to leave but then one notices a blocked basement door samson keeps barking that is easily subdued by some meat from the freezer he purposefully ascends the stairs while the officers simultaneously go down they come to a basement filled with recently buried dirt which must be where all the other boys bodies have been stored but they acknowledge that he must actually be killing them someplace else at the front door finn has to tend with the bike lock once more but this time with no grabber to hinder him gwen is huddled at the fence and sees her brother coming out from the house across the street to her shop they rush into each other's arms having an emotional reunion he points the cops to the basement and afterwards their mournful dad even joins them starting to sob seeing that his boy is okay he shakely apologizes and begs them both for forgiveness yeah see the psychic dreams were real after all but you feel like a big old jerk now idiot the sheriff addresses the press this community's nightmare has come to an end tonight they found the boy's five bodies along with a few others the killer had two homes one where he kept his victims and another across the street where he buried them after you know not sure that's the best setup may would make more sense to keep the bodies you know somewhere like way far away from your regular house not literally across the street i don't know i'm not a serial killer you do you i suppose finn returns to school and the halls are all abuzz with his appearance people whispering that's the kid and wondering how this pipsqueak took down the grabber he enters the classroom and the others all immediately get quiet he takes a seat next to donna her saying hi fanny he smirks call me finn baby he actually just says call me finn that's right i'm a big man now so the main drive of the movie is related to finn and the story really revolves around him and his big growth as a character we see throughout that finn is very passive and reserved as robin tells him in the beginning one day he is gonna have to stand up for himself there won't be anyone else to help face his battles for him one day that comes to fruition in the end he's forced to fight for himself or lose his life the stakes don't get any bigger than that and as thanks to his ghost pals he's able to make his way out each give him a piece that works to his favor the hole in the ground the cable the bike lock and even the t-bone it's as though each of the boys are giving him a piece to succeed but ultimately it's up to finn to put a stop to the grabber this also allows him to honor the victim's memories directly thanks to their support they didn't die in vain as their efforts led to the grabber being taken out and it appears that thanks to this harrowing experience finn has matured and grown into himself thanks to directly facing and overcoming this trauma he managed to come out on the other side stronger than before that's the main point of the story but then we get into more metaphorical and admittedly muddy waters there's connections that feel purposeful and a main one is regarding child abuse finn's dad specifically uses a belt on gwen and i couldn't help but notice that it's the same for the grabber there's also the same kind of punishment aspect the kid did something wrong and this leads to abuse a kind of rationalization behind the behavior this starts to make me think that the grabber is a representation or stand-in for his father a seemingly insurmountable monster that he does not know how to defeat or face on his own however there's no real comeuppance moment between finn and his dad but it does seem at the end that he is sorrowful for his actions at least he knows the psychic power thing is real and maybe they can actually work on their many problems as a family thanks to finn's newfound confidence but to me it's his dad that's the real monster for finn even more so than the grabber at least from a personal standpoint and it's all tied back to their mom taking her life and the powers and all that now let's move on to the grabber as i said at the top we get no deep understanding to who he is or his real motivation behind the abductions and killings yet there are some standout clues and moments that can help us to better understand the character the big inspiration is real life serial killers of the time in particular john wayne gacy who dressed as a clown and targeted young men and boys even in the original black phone short story the grabber was a clown this was wisely changed to avoid comparison to joe hill's dad's similar book yeah look it up you know what i'm talking about this also ties into that concept of evil that dwells in unsuspecting places that idea of a fear that lurks under the surface in a seemingly peaceful idyllic suburb we don't know about the lurking danger until it's upon us and sucks us up but for our grabber characters specifically there are more things to investigate which leads me back to the abuse angle we know the grabber pretty much beats all the kids to death after they try to escape in his so-called game but why this setup specifically the killer mentions that the phone worked way back when he was a child implying the house that he's in now and keeping finn captive within is actually his childhood home it all makes me start to think that the grabber was once held down in the basement as a child by his own parents and this is what fueled his whole deranged demeanor just as finn was punished for wrongdoing the grabber went through the same kind of experience and this is why he feels finn is special he reminds him of himself and his own lost childhood innocence perhaps his first kills were actually taking out his abusive parents and from there he kind of became a judge in his own strange way now punishing other kids who do wrong according to his twisted mind then there's his mask which he uses to hide his face obviously and kind of hide from his actions in a way he says earlier that it was someone else that killed the kids and then when losing his mask he goes bananas he can't handle what he's doing without the mask to cover it up it stands to reason that he grappled with his own actions killing his parents or others and in order to deal with what he had done donned the mask and created the grabber persona in order to assuage the guilt of his murders that would all nicely dovetail with many story points presented and the theme scene overall just as finn dealt with abuse so did the grabber and that is what spawned the killer this brings us back to another point the black phone it does seem to represent the grabber's guilt something that he can hear but chooses to ignore but then there's the whole psychic powers thing bruce said that the phone did ring for him but he didn't hear it meaning to me without powers you don't hear it but the grabber did hear it and didn't want to believe it to be true which reminds us of finn's ill-fated mom she heard and saw things so to speak and the misunderstanding of this led to her death i could see that the grabber also had these heightened senses but his parents thought he was nuts and this is why he was locked up in the basement this taught him to reject his latent abilities and assume that he was mentally troubled which eventually developed into his violent tendencies just like finn's mom again totally connecting the dots as far as what is actually on screen is concerned because they did not give us much to work with but this all makes sense to me based on what's presented that brings us to the conclusion of this inning explained for the black phone don't forget before we go you can see me request for any movies or tv shows you'd like to see me explain by sending them my way on any of my social media accounts at foundflix what did you guys think of the black phone and its ending what are your theories on the grabber let me know your thoughts down in the comments below make sure to like subscribe and follow thanks for watching found flicks see you next

Channel: FoundFlix

Views: 907,694

Keywords: black phone, black phone ending explained, ending explained, ending, explained, explanation, review, grabber, backstory, trailer, clip, final scene, end scene, spoiler, foundflix ending explained, new horror, ethan hawke

Id: HDA6Vnmy_JA

Length: 35min 33sec (2133 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 31 2022